Welcome from Victoria Sylvester, Chief Executive Officer 

MBH Corporation

Welcome to the MBH Corporation Half Year Financial Results for 2023. Since moving into the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Group a key focus for me has been the improvement of performance of the Group and its subsidiaries. I have invested time with all Group companies to understand more about their strategic plans, opportunities, and challenges all with a view to a clear focus on continuous improvement, recovery, and organic growth. 

However, the first half of the year has been challenging. Specifically within our biggest contributor - the construction vertical – with many pre-pandemic projects coming to an end. The economic climate of high inflation on cost of goods, supply chain challenges with distribution and delays in project completion being the main contributors.

On the positive side, there is much to look forward to as we are now moving into new business and the construction vertical has a healthy pipeline of new projects – and these are more aligned with the current financial climate. In addition, we continue to focus on vertical depth, and our recent acquisitions in the leisure vertical, with two new businesses joining the Group in the first half of the year, demonstrates our progress with regards to our inorganic growth plans. This is extremely encouraging.

We are a Group going through recovery in some key areas and undergoing change across the business, with our mid-year results reflecting where we are on that journey. To improve on these results that we are announcing, in this report, it is going to take hard work and patience and I am astutely aware that sometimes we must go backwards a little to move forward significantly. The leadership teams in all Group companies continue to be committed and engaged and I thank them for their support.

Financial Performance

It has been a tough first half of the year for the Group. Revenue declined by 9% to GBP66.2m from GBP73.1m in 1H 2022. Gross profit was down by GBP3.6m or 23% from 1H 2022. The Group’s revenue was adversely affected by a downturn in the Construction and Education verticals attributable to delays in contracts delivered, ongoing surge in raw materials and manpower costs.

On the positive side, the Engineering vertical has demonstrated good growth in both revenue and gross profit which has partially offset the shortfall in the Construction and Education verticals.

The Group’s 1H 2023 EBIT was GBP0.7m, a drop of 69% from 1H 2022. Net loss after tax for 1H 2023 was GBP0.2m and Earnings per Share was -0.21p.

Click to learn about how the Principals reflect on joining MBH.

MBH Corporation remains fully committed to our ESG strategy, plans and required action. We have seen much debate in the media around this subject, however our view remains the same in that it is fundamental that businesses are investing, adapting and preparing for working and living in a different future world. Therefore, our work continues in this area and we have seen some great achievements over the past 6 months.

At subsidiary level, some highlights include Acacia Training becoming an approved B-corp business and our taxi vertical is well on track with its electric vehicle fleet strategy and commitment. 

At a group level, we have re-established our baseline data, based on 2021, as this is a more reflective year compared to 2020, and achieved our targets - so as a result have stretched them further setting new challenges and reviewed our targets in line with new science as it emerges.

And we successfully published the second MBH ESG report which contains increased information with regards to our progress along with company insights. You can find the information here and the full report at www.mbhcorporation.com/esg-report-2022.

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our planet and prosperity”

"We have embedded our ESG culture since the very start of the MBH journey. We are driven by all stakeholders – customers, team members, suppliers, investors, as well as our company leaders, alongside a genuine desire to ensure we are supporting the global community by being accountable and working towards our positive impact on creating much needed change."

Victoria Sylvester | CEO MBH Corporation Plc